Wilkinson left out of Lions squad

There will be no real surprise in the Wallabies camp to this 37-man British and Irish Lions squad. Not even in the selection of Sean Maitland, the New Zealand winger given his debut at the Crusaders by a certain Robbie Deans. But it is a squad that, nonetheless, will have their respect.

Coach Warren Gatland has surveyed the menu in front of him and opted for red meat – large slabs of it. And there are two 'late' inclusions – players that did not feature in the Six Nations – that catch the eye: Irish second-rower Paul O'Connell and Welsh blindside breakaway Dan Lydiate. These are two of the hardest men on the northern scene, and relatively fresh after coming back from injury-enforced breaks. You suspect Gatland would have stood on front of the plane on the Heathrow tarmac to buy them enough time for them to board.

It is a statement of the obvious that the Lions are going to take the Wallabies on up front, particularly in the middle row. The omission of the likes of the athletic, skilled youngster Joe Launchbury – who enjoyed a tremendous finish to 2012 for England but by all reports fatigued as the season went on – and the presence of O'Connell brings steel, experience and nous to that department. The Wallabies' decision to appoint Nathan Sharpe in a coaching capacity to help with that area of their game immediately looks like a wise one.

It is also a Lions squad that recognises the strengths in Robbie Deans' options, particularly with the selection of two specialist openside breakaways in Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric, while powerful Irishman Sean O'Brien could also be activated from the bench to assist in the gargantuan task of shifting George Smith, Michael Hooper or Liam Gill off the ball. The implicit compliment in those selections will be reciprocated by Deans when he names his No.10 and No.12. Strong shoulders will be needed in those Wallabies jerseys to cope with the volume and size of the traffic coming their way from the huge Lions midfielders.

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The accusations will fly that Gatland has gambled by selecting a Welsh captain, Sam Warburton, and 14 of his compatriots in his squad. After all, their recent record against the Wallabies is poor, losing six straight in the past 19 months, some of them in a fashion that suggested the Welsh have a mental stumbling block against Australia when the winning line is in sight.

The truth is that an alternative approach was shut down in the last round of the Six Nations, when the Welsh comprehensively blasted England off the park, but Gatland is well aware of the crux of the allegation. When Fairfax Media put it to him in March that the Welsh inability to get the job done against the Wallabies was a potential Lions issue, it was the only time in the conversation that a little bit of edge entered his voice.

British & Irish Lions squad

They would carry no baggage, he insisted. In fact, the run of narrow losses were an essential part of the group's growth.

“The only way you improve and learn is from adversity," Gatland said at the time. "That's possibly where a huge amount of learning has taken place for a lot of those guys. That's a learning process for a lot of those [Welsh] players and I think that process is potentially what got them over the line against England [in the Six Nations].

"The last three [Wales] games against Australia, being in front in all three games and in two of them losing them right on full time … I think they'll learn from that.”

Looking ahead: Lions coach Warren Gatland. Photo: Getty Images

We now know the strength, or otherwise, of that proposition will go a long way to deciding this series.

98 comments so far

If Robbie Deans harnesses the ability and hunger on display by the Aussie Super Rugby teams this year, and if he gets Jake White and Ewan Mackenzie on board, Australia will do very well. On paper, this is a weaker Lions team than that which toured Australia 12 years ago, and there seems to be no real X-factor players like Jason Robinson, young O'Driscoll or Martin Johnson.In contrast the Wallabies will have Genia, JO'C, Leafano, Foleau, Mogg, etc. This is a great opportunity for Oz to win all three tests.

Commenter

Wobbles

Date and time

April 30, 2013, 9:38PM

Tell him he's dreaming.....

Commenter

Sydirish

Date and time

April 30, 2013, 10:06PM

What is it with you guys and your obsession with backs? Its obvious what they're bringing, you better hope that June on Australia's east coast is not a wet one this year.

Commenter

SAVAGE

Location

Wellington, NZ

Date and time

May 01, 2013, 1:04AM

By your rational the Wallabies should have won the RWC in 2011 after the Reds won the Super 15 - but they didn't. My point? Regardless of how well your S15 teams are doing it bears no relevance to Internationals what so ever. Further - your point about X factor players. Weren't Australia's X factor players all over the park when they lost to Ireland in 2011 RWC? I recall Cooper, O'Conner, Genia, Ione and others were playing but they lost. Why? Ireland played like a champion team, not a team of champions. So I expect the Lions to beat you by playing like a Champion team where as Dingo Deans will attempt to win the series with supposed X factor players who don't actually win crucial matches at this level.

Commenter

theDiff

Location

Auckland

Date and time

May 01, 2013, 2:23PM

Looking at possible team selections, there maybe more Samoans and Kiwis on the field in both jerseys than any other nationality :)

Commenter

Crispy

Date and time

May 01, 2013, 10:11PM

You pen crap Wobbles! Deans if he needed any assistance at all would want to take on board top individuals with the complete nous on the art of rugby International, and McKenzie and White don't have that!

Mckenzie has never been there and Jake White coached a South African team to a World Cup win by the most boring, uninteresting and dour style of play imaginable but was in vogue at the time, (the rules have altered a bit since then), just don't run the ball, kick it as far down the paddock as possible in range of their goalkicker and create a penalty in their favour then boot it over via Percy Montgomery who kicked all the points, the ugliest win by any team in a World Cup since it's inception, but in saying that they did the very same thing in the 1995 W/Cup also, Stransky doing the job!~~~So, Robbie certainly doesn't coach rugby using those methods, after all he's a Canterbury All Black and a Crusader boy so you can be assured he wouldn't choose any of the two you mention, nuff' sed!

Commenter

kirky

Date and time

May 02, 2013, 12:18PM

10 games for the Lions, 10 wins, any takers??!!

Commenter

SydIrish

Date and time

April 30, 2013, 9:51PM

Wales, who make up the bulk of the squad, have certainly been consistent against Australiain recent years : 0

Commenter

Wobbles

Date and time

April 30, 2013, 10:29PM

I've been living in the UK and trust me this is not a great Lions team. No 5/8, they will play Philips at half who bizarrely cannot pass, centres with no creativity and a backrow who are good but with no out and out 7 to combat Smith/Gill/Hooper and a very week looking front row if injuries hit

Commenter

Steve

Location

UK

Date and time

May 01, 2013, 2:07AM

You're dreaming.

Wales have lost their last 7 matches against Oz. The Lions squad = over-rated Wales, plus extras.